Deck 8: Skill Memory: Learning by Doing

Question 1

Which of the following is the best example of an open skill?

A)performing an ice skating routine
B)catching a baseball
C)synchronized swimmers performing their routine
D)following a recipe to bake a cake

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is true regarding expert performance?

A)Compared with chess masters,amateur chess players move their eyes more rapidly to focus on a small number of locations on the board.
B)Amateur chess players focus more on empty squares than chess masters do.
C)Compared with inexperienced soccer players,expert players are more likely to watch the player who has the ball.
D)Expert basketball players are good at predicting the outcome of a shot based on the movements of the player who has the ball before he releases his shot.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

An expert is someone who:

A)is able to master a skill with very little effort.
B)has a natural ability to perform a skill.
C)combines natural ability with lots of practice to perfect a skill.
D)performs a skill better than most people.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Learned movement patterns guided by sensory inputs are called ______,while skills requiring the use of the brain to solve problems or apply strategies are called _____.

A)closed skills;open skills
B)open skills;cognitive skills
C)perceptual-motor skills;cognitive skills
D)perceptual-motor skills;open skills

Question 5

Which of the following is an example of a cognitive skill?

A)running up the stairs
B)buttoning your coat
C)organizing your class schedule
D)opening a door

Question 6

Which of the following is the best example of a closed skill?

A)playing tennis
B)driving a car
C)playing a video game
D)playing a particular piece on the piano

Question 7

Which of the following is true regarding the power law of learning?

A)It cannot be overcome.
B)It is different for cognitive skills than for perceptual-motor skills.
C)It is different for different species.
D)It is the same for most skills.

Question 8

Skill memories:

A)can only be retrieved with conscious awareness.
B)are considered to be declarative memories.
C)are improved by repeated experiences.
D)can be communicated to others easily in many different ways.

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of a perceptual-motor skill?

A)remembering material for an exam
B)managing your time
C)skiing
D)solving a puzzle

Question 10

Research on twins' performance on the rotary pursuit task has shown that,as training progressed:

A)identical twins' performance became more dissimilar.
B)fraternal twins' performance became more dissimilar.
C)fraternal twins' performance became more similar.
D)identical twins' performance did not change.

Question 11

The Tower of Hanoi puzzle is used for studying how we learn:

A)open skills.
B)closed skills.
C)cognitive skills.
D)perceptual-motor skills.

Question 12

Suppose a child is learning to swim.If we measure how long it takes him to swim from one end of the pool to the other each day,we will typically find that his speed will:

A)increase rapidly over the first several days,and then increase more slowly on subsequent days.
B)increase gradually from day to day.
C)increase slowly over the first several days,and then increase more rapidly on subsequent days.
D)remain the same for the first several days,and then increase rather suddenly.

Question 13

Laboratory research on perceptual-motor skills usually focuses on ____ because ____.

A)simple skills;they can control the relevant variables more precisely
B)complex skills;they can control the relevant variables more precisely
C)simple skills;complex skills are uninteresting to psychologists
D)complex skills;simple skills are uninteresting to psychologists

Question 14

A skill is a(n):

A)ability to perform a task that has been honed through learning..
B)fact that you can learn through repeated exposure.
C)event you can remember from your childhood.
D)ability that is innate,such as a reflex.

Question 15

Researchers studying expertise sometimes focus on the abilities of professionals (athletes,chess masters,etc. )because:

A)the researchers have a great deal of control over the environmental variables affecting such people.
B)thee performance of professionals is usually easy to quantify.
C)these areas only require cognitive skills,which are the most interesting to researchers.
D)professionals all have roughly the same level of expertise,which eliminates variability in the data.

Question 16

Which of the following demonstrates that non-human animals can learn cognitive skills?

A)Chimpanzees in the wild have learned how to use stones to crack nuts.
B)Dolphins can learn to repeat whatever action they had performed most recently when instructed to do so by a trainer.
C)In the lab,experimenters have taught primates and other animals to use various tools.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 17

Dara is practicing a new gymnastic routine.Her practice will be MOST effective if she:

A)practices many times a day.
B)is given feedback about her performance.
C)visualizes the routine in her mind before performing her new routine.
D)blocks out all other distractions.

Question 18

Which of the following is the best example of a skill memory?

A)remembering the name of the first president of the United States
B)knowing how to tie your shoe
C)remembering who attended your 16^th-birthday party
D)knowing what foods you like to eat

Question 19

The results of studies on twins' performance on the rotary pursuit task suggest that practice:

A)decreases the effects of prior experience.
B)increases the effects of prior experience.
C)decreases the effects of genetic influences.
D)has no impact on the effects of genetic influences.

Question 20

Research on talent and expertise suggests that:

A)practice alone determines who will become an expert.
B)it is easy to determine how much practice an individual will need in order to become an expert.
C)people need to born with talent in order to become experts.
D)the total amount of practice is an important variable in determining whether a person will become an expert.

Question 21

Ryan once learned to play a piano piece very well.After years of not playing the piece,he found he could no longer play it nearly as well as he originally could.Ryan is experiencing:

A)apraxia.
B)variable practice.
C)skill decay.
D)the power law of learning.

Question 22

Individuals with anterograde amnesia can:

A)not learn new facts or new skills.
B)learn new skills but are unaware of having learned them.
C)learn new skills if they are reminded each day of what they had practiced the previous day.
D)learn new facts but not new skills.

Question 23

Which of the following is true regarding the forgetting of skills?

A)Forgetting is rapid at first and then slows down.
B)Forgetting is slow at first and gradually speeds up.
C)Once you learn a skill,you do not forget it.
D)If you are physically unable to perform a skill you once knew,it means that you have forgotten how to do it.

Question 24

Which of the following is an example of the cognitive stage of skill acquisition?

A)following the instructions in a recipe to bake cookies
B)following a recipe from memory to bake cookies
C)baking cookies without a recipe while listening to your child talk about her day at school
D)trying out new ingredients in your traditional cookie recipe

Question 25

A person riding as a passenger in a car sometimes has the experience of automatically stepping on an imaginary brake as the driver brings the car to a fast stop.The passenger's behavior is:

A)a reflex.
B)a motor program.
C)caused by skill decay.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 26

If a mother wants her son to implicitly learn to use correct grammar,she should:

A)point out his mistakes whenever he uses incorrect grammar.
B)help him to memorize the rules of grammar.
C)always use correct grammar when she speaks to him.
D)tell him "yes,you used correct grammar" as a reward every time he uses correct grammar.

Question 27

Which of the following is the best example of implicit learning?

A)memorizing the names of the state capitols
B)rehearsing a phone number someone just told to you
C)learning the words to a song that is played regularly on the radio
D)studying vocabulary words for a French test

Question 28

According to Thorndike's identical elements theory,if you learned to swim in an indoor pool,you will swim the best in:

A)an indoor pool.
B)an outdoor pool.
C)a small lake.
D)the ocean.

Question 29

If Madeleine wants to learn two very simple perceptual-motor skills MOST effectively,she should practice:

A)them on separate days.
B)both on the same day and then get a good night's sleep.
C)one skill on the first day,then review that same skill on the second day before practicing the other skill.
D)both skills on the first day,then practice only the second skill on the second day.

Question 30

Jacob has an exam tomorrow.He hasn't studied all semester,and is cramming his studying all into one night.Jacob is using ________ practice.

A)massed
B)spaced
C)constant
D)variable

Question 31

Steve is trying to improve his public speaking skills.He is practicing by giving speeches on different topics to different groups of friends.Steve is using ________ practice.

A)massed
B)spaced
C)constant
D)variable

Question 32

Which of the following is true regarding motor programs?

A)Motor programs must be learned.
B)Motor programs must be inborn.
C)Both cognitive and perceptual-motor skills can become motor programs.
D)Only perceptual-motor skills can become motor programs.

Question 33

The restricted applicability of some learned skills to specific situations is known as:

A)implicit learning.
B)skill decay.
C)a motor program.
D)transfer specificity.

Question 34

Thorndike's identical elements theory provides a good explanation for which of the following?

A)apraxia
B)motor programs
C)skill decay
D)transfer specificity

Question 35

Research on using massed and spaced practice to train postal workers to use a letter sorting machine showed that:

A)the group that was the most satisfied with the training process also learned it the most quickly.
B)those using spaced practice were more satisfied with their training.
C)those using massed practice required the fewest hours of training to learn the task.
D)those using spaced practice required the fewest hours of training to learn the task.

Question 36

It is difficult to study the forgetting of perceptual-motor skills because:

A)once a skill is learned,it is never forgotten.
B)if a person cannot perform a skill,it usually means she has forgotten it.
C)without practice,the ability to perform a skill tends to deteriorate.
D)it is difficult to distinguish forgetting of the skill from impairment in motor control.

Question 37

Learning a skill without being aware that you've learned it is known as _______ learning.

A)massed
B)implicit
C)open
D)variable

Question 38

What has been found regarding the impact of sleep on people's ability to perform a sequenced finger-tapping task?

A)Practicing two skills on the same day can interfere with retention of the second skill practiced.
B)Practicing two skills on the same day can interfere with retention of the first skill practiced.
C)Reviewing a recently-learned skill before beginning to practice a new one can interfere with retention of the new skill.
D)Reviewing a recently-learned skill before beginning to practice a new one can interfere with retention of both skills.

Question 39

Implicit learning:

A)occurs only in people with amnesia.
B)is more likely to occur for perceptual-motor skills than for cognitive skills.
C)is more likely to occur for cognitive skills than for perceptual-motor skills.
D)is often studied using a serial reaction time task.

Question 40

If a child wants to learn to write his name by using spaced practice,he should write his name:

A)once every day for several weeks.
B)several times as soon as he wakes up in the morning on one day.
C)over and over for one day until he gets it right.
D)by alternating using a pen,pencil,crayon,and marker.

Question 41

After training on a mirror-reading task,activity in the right cerebellum _______ and activity in the left cerebellum ________.

A)increases;increases
B)decreases;decreases
C)increases;decreases
D)decreases;increases

Question 42

During the ________ stage of skill acquisition,learners begin using stereotyped actions when performing the skill and rely less on actively recalled memories of rules.

A)cognitive
B)associative
C)autonomous
D)expert

Question 43

When rats with damage to the basal ganglia are put in a water maze,and the platform is moved to a new location,the rats swim:

A)in random directions until they find the new platform.
B)directly to the location where the platform used to be,but only if the platform is submerged (not visible).
C)directly to the new platform location only if the platform is visible.
D)directly to the location where the platform used to be even when the platform is visible.

Question 44

Which of the following is true?

A)Playing violent action video games can increase visual attention abilities.
B)Playing any kind of video games can increase visual attention abilities.
C)The effects of playing video games are apparent after just 10 minutes of practice.
D)The effects of playing video games are restricted to the games themselves and do not carry over to other tasks.

Question 45

A person with damage to the cerebellum would have the MOST trouble with which of the following tasks?

A)learning the movements in a gymnastic routine
B)synchronizing movements with a partner in ballroom dancing
C)copying simple finger movements made by a therapist
D)holding cards during a poker game

Question 46

Being able to throw a baseball without having to think about the motions you are making is an example of the ___________ stage of skill acquisition.

A)cognitive
B)associative
C)autonomous
D)expert

Question 47

A deficit in the coordination of purposeful skilled movements is called:

A)transcranial deficit.
B)Parkinson's disease.
C)Huntington's disease.
D)apraxia.

Question 48

Neuroimaging studies of experts suggest that we should see increased cortical activation in brain areas associated with:

A)a tennis-player's dominant arm.
B)a bowler's non-dominant hand.
C)a juggler's neck.
D)a trumpet-player's feet.

Question 49

On mirror-tracing tasks,people with damage to the cerebellum ______ than unimpaired people.

A)learn the task more slowly
B)learn the task more quickly
C)show less transfer of training
D)show more transfer of training

Question 50

With practice,cortical expansion occurs in areas of:

A)somatosensory cortex that are relevant for performing the skill.
B)motor cortex that are relevant for performing the skill.
C)both somatosensory cortex and motor cortex that are relevant for performing the skill.
D)the cortex that are not relevant for performing the skill.

Question 51

Someone with damage to the basal ganglia would have the MOST trouble with which of the following tasks?

A)remembering the details of his childhood
B)learning the names of all of the U.S.presidents
C)remembering the name of a person he recently met
D)remembering how to ride a bike

Question 52

Research suggests that the basal ganglia are involved in learning:

A)perceptual-motor skills.
B)cognitive skills.
C)both perceptual-motor skills and cognitive skills.
D)neither perceptual-motor skills nor cognitive skills.

Question 53

If we measure the neural activity in a rat's basal ganglia as the rat learns to turn the correct way in a T-shaped maze,we find that during the early stages of learning,most neurons fire ________,whereas after practicing,most neurons fire ________.

A)when the rat turns;at the beginning and end of the task
B)when the instructional sound is broadcast;when the rat turns
C)when the rat turns;when the instructional sound is broadcast
D)at the beginning and end of the trial;when the rat turns

Question 54

In musician's dystonia,extensive practicing of an instrument leads to:

A)loss of motor control due to a lack of cortical expansion.
B)loss of motor control due to reorganization of the motor cortex.
C)improved motor control due to cortical expansion.
D)improved motor control due to reorganization of the motor cortex.

Question 55

When a rat learns to turn the correct way in a T-shaped maze,we find that in the basal ganglia:

A)neural activity is relatively constant throughout the learning process.
B)neural activity is low at the beginning of learning and gradually increases.
C)neural activity is high at the beginning of learning but gradually tapers off.
D)the pattern of neural activity changes as the rat becomes better at the task.

Question 56

Brain-imaging research on people learning to use patterns on cards to predict weather outcomes has shown that activity _________ in the basal ganglia,and people _______ improve on the task.

A)increases;do not
B)decreases;do not
C)increases;do
D)decreases;do

Question 57

Rats with damage to the basal ganglia:

A)have trouble learning to navigate a basic radial maze.
B)have trouble learning to navigate a radial maze in which only the illuminated arms contain food.
C)cannot learn to find the platform in a water maze.
D)have trouble performing skills necessary to find food in a basic radial maze.

Question 58

During learning of a mirror-reading task,the left cerebellum shows ______ activity,and the right cerebellum shows________ activity.

A)increased;decreased
B)decreased;increased
C)increased;no change in
D)no change in;decreased

Question 59

Which area of the brain is particularly important for controlling the velocity,direction,and amplitude of movements?

A)basal ganglia
B)cerebral cortex
C)cerebellum
D)brainstem

Question 60

As people learn a new perceptual-motor skill,the amount of cortex that is active ____ with practice.

A)increases steadily
B)decreases steadily
C)increases rapidly at first,and then more slowly
D)increases slowly at first,and then more rapidly

Question 61

People with apraxia:

A)show the same rate of improvement with practice as unimpaired individuals.
B)can usually perform complex gestures fairly well.
C)have more trouble with learning skills than with executing skills.
D)with practice,can usually achieve the same level of performance as unimpaired individuals.

Question 62

Which of the following is true regarding the cerebral cortex?

A)Animals without much cerebral cortex cannot learn perceptual-motor tasks.
B)Practicing a perceptual-motor skill leads to increased cortical activity.
C)Practicing a skill leads to a decrease in the amount of cortical gray matter.
D)It is particularly important for tasks that involve tracking a target.

Question 63

If a teenager is driven from home to school,he may learn the route without consciously trying to do so.This is an example of:

A)massed practice.
B)implicit learning.
C)skill decay.
D)the power law of learning.

Question 64

Which of the following is true?

A)Massed practice is more effective than spaced practice for long-term retention.
B)Constant practice is more effective than variable practice overall.
C)Massed practice requires less total practice time than spaced practice.
D)It is unclear whether constant practice or variable practice is more effective.

Question 65

People with Parkinson's disease:

A)can be treated with deep brain stimulation.
B)have trouble with mirror-reading tasks.
C)usually begin experiencing symptoms in their 20s.
D)have abnormally high levels of dopamine.

Question 66

Suppose a baby learns to eat using a spoon.According to the idea of transfer specificity,which of the following would she have the easiest time learning?

A)eating with a slightly larger spoon
B)eating with a fork
C)cutting her food with a knife
D)drinking from a cup

Question 67

An example of a closed skill is ________,and an example of an open skill is _________.

A)surfing;tying your shoes
B)tying your shoes;playing pat-a-cake
C)surfing;playing pat-a-cake
D)playing pat-a-cake;surfing

Question 68

People with Huntington's disease:

A)cannot learn new perceptual-motor skills.
B)cannot learn new cognitive skills.
C)perform normally on tasks that require tracking a target.
D)have deficits in learning tasks that require planning.

Question 69

People with apraxia:

A)have a genetic disorder.
B)have trouble performing perceptual-motor skills,but not cognitive skills.
C)have usually suffered a head injury or a stroke.
D)do not usually understand the instructions they are given.

Question 70

The basal ganglia:

A)are especially important for performing skills that require precise timing.
B)are active when people learn cognitive skills.
C)send most of their output to the spinal cord.
D)are mainly involved in controlling complex actions.

Question 71

Imagine a ballerina who has performed a particular ballet so many times that she doesn't even need to think about the movements anymore.She has developed:

A)apraxia.
B)an open skill.
C)a motor program.
D)talent.

Question 72

The cerebellum is:

A)important for learning motions that involve precise timing.
B)only present in a few species.
C)particularly important for linking sensory events to motor responses.
D)involved in performing skills but not in learning them by watching others perform them.

Question 73

People with apraxia have trouble:

A)making basic movements that make up a complex gesture.
B)accessing memories of actions.
C)understanding what movements the neuropsychologist is instructing them to do.
D)performing perceptual-motor skills,but not cognitive skills.

Question 74

According to the power law of learning,performance during learning:

A)starts slowly,and then rapidly improves.
B)improves rapidly at first,and then slows down.
C)improves at a steady rate.
D)improves rapidly at first and then declines.

Question 75

Which disorder involves a reduction in the number of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta that control activity in the basal ganglia?

A)transcranial deficit
B)Parkinson's disease
C)Huntington's disease
D)apraxia

Question 76

A person who has a very hard time learning to play the piano,but with practice becomes a concert pianist:

A)has talent but is not an expert.
B)has talent and has become an expert.
C)does not have talent but has become an expert.
D)does not have talent and is not an expert.

Question 77

Which of the following is an example of a cognitive skill?

A)running
B)tying your shoes
C)climbing a ladder
D)balancing a checkbook

Question 78

Which disorder is an inherited disease involving deterioration of neurons in the basal ganglia and cerebral cortex?

A)transcranial deficit.
B)Parkinson's disease
C)Huntington's disease
D)apraxia

Question 79

A teenager who is just learning to drive a car needs to listen carefully to all of the steps involved as his instructor is telling him.Which stage of skill acquisition is the teenager in?

A)cognitive stage
B)associative stage
C)autonomous stage
D)expert stage

Question 80

Which of the following is true regarding skill decay?

A)It can occur because of interference from newer skills.
B)It happens more for perceptual-motor skills than for cognitive skills.
C)It occurs at a fairly steady rate.
D)There is less decay if multiple skills are practiced on the same day.